This is a quick examination of the amount of hours per dollar you can expect to get from different sources of entertainment.
This becomes important when you consider that the masses may very well think a $1 iPhone game they can play for 10 hours is worth more than a $10 eBook from a Noble Prize winning author. Perhaps we already live in such a world.
Bang for the Buck – Hours per Dollar
Books
- $15 Hardcover Book – Let’s say it’s 5 hours, which gives us $3 per hour.
- $10 eBook – Again 5 hours, which gives us $2 per hour.
- $2 Independent eBook - 5 hours at 40 cents per hour.
- Pirated Books – Free.
Movies
- Movies at the Theater – Say $10 per ticket and a 2 hr movie. That’s $5 per hour per person.
- Streaming Movies (Netflix, iTunes Store) – $4 per movie. That’s $2 per hour regardless of the number of people.
- Movie Rentals – $4 per movie. Again $2 per hour regardless of the number of people.
- Pirated Movie Sites – Free.
Games
- Boxed or Digital Games – $40 per Game. Say the game gives you 20 hours of playing time. That’s $2 per hour.
- iPhone Game Apps – $2 per game app. The game gives you 5 to 10 hours of playing time. That’s 20 to 40 cents an hour.
- Facebook Apps – Free.
- Free Online Games – Free.
- Pirated Games – Free.
Live Entertainment
- Theater – $35 per person for 2 hours. That’s $17.50 per hour.
- Concert – $40 per person for 3 hours. That’s $13.33 per hour.
- Concerts in the Park – Free.
- Museum – $10 to $20 per person for 2 hours. That’s $5 to $10 per person.
- Art Gallery – Usually Free or the same as a museum i.e. $5 to $10 per person.
Internet Entertainment
- YouTube – Free.
- Socializing (Stalking) on Facebook – Free.
- Lolcats or TFLN – Free.
Consider Where Books Are
There are no live events that can collect a lot of money (like concerts) or even a little money (like movie theaters).
The dollars per hour are high for Hardcovers and also for eBooks.
If you consider Hardcovers and the fact that they were losing out to new forms of entertainment it should not be a surprise -
- A Hardcover is $3 per hour.
- An iPhone App is 20 to 40 cents an hour.
- A Facebook App is Free.
That’s just on the dimension of cost. Books were losing on convenience too because you had to go to a store and buy one and lug it around.
With eBooks we’ve addressed the convenience factor – for the most part.
That’s a huge step forward. However, we also have to address hours per dollar.
We either increase hours per dollar or we build up the value proposition?
Beyond that -
- What are the equivalent of movie theaters for books?
- What are the equivalent of concerts?
There must be some way to deliver more and charge more.
The Role of the Internet – Infinite Bang for the Buck (sans Quality)
The Internet really does destroy markets.
Look at all the examples where there was infinite bang for the buck due to products or services being free – They’re all online.
It’s a combination of -
- Very low cost of delivering products, infinite replication, etc.
- Infinite Competition.
- Companies thinking they can or actually making back money off of other means.
Obviously quality suffers - no one is claiming that YouTube is the same quality of production as the latest blockbusters (some of them 
).
However, the convenience and the fact that it’s free makes it irresistable.
It’s a scary thought that eBooks are competing against absolutely free and extremely easy to access Entertainment.
Filed under: books Tagged: | books vs internet
Once again, an insightful, thought-provoking post. Thank you!
Some studies indicate that teens use YouTube when they want to learn how to do something rather than read a how-to book. They want to see someone on the screen demonstrate how rather than read instructions.
Linda, perhaps that’s true – however, the most popular videos are usually cats running into walls and music videos.
I have been using the bang for the buck scale for a while, it’s how I decide if certain Xbox 360 games are worth $60. I refuse to pay $60 for a game that won’t give me at least 20 hours of gameplay, that’s a hard rule. At $3/hour it is already expensive. Games with a strong multiplayer appeal easily beat this mark, it is not uncommon to rake up 100 or more hours on just one title.
As for Netflix, I am sorry but your math is off. The lowest Netflix plan that I have access to is $8.99/month for one DVD at a time and unlimited streaming. There is no cost per movie when streaming. If you combine the $8.99/month Neftlix streaming choice with Hulu.com, suddenly you are no longer needing the movies tier of your cable TV subscription.
Excellent article, please keep writing!